5 Times: Michael Culhane
by betterforit
Summary: Five times Culhane realized that maybe he wasn't quite as over Fallon as he'd thought he was. And the one time he realized that maybe she wasn't quite over him, either.
1. You 9-1-1'ed me

A/N:

I think I may be the only Dynasty fan in the world not jumping on the Falliam ship. Still, I can't get over the idea of Fallon and Culhane, something about them just gets to me. This story jumped in my head and I could not let it go. Please be kind!

* * *

**Part I: "You 9-1-1'ed me."**

**2X12: Filthy Games**

* * *

_ 911\. Come soon!_

It takes a moment for the words on his screen to register.

To be honest, they almost don't. He'd been keeping his distance, trying to cut her out of his existence and sever the ties that had always kept him coming back before. Out of sight, out of mind. He'd made a conscious effort to not call or text her, to erase any trace of her from his phone, even going so far as to delete her number, as if he hadn't already memorized it years ago.

Seeing her panicked text now though, and he realizes how naïve he'd been to ever think he wouldn't drop everything and come running the second Fallon needed him.

_911\. Come soon!_

He quickly calls her back, but she doesn't answer. Panic sets into him as her voicemail picks up for the third time in a row, and he feels his stomach drop as visions of all that could be wrong start circling in his head.

Did someone have her? Was she hurt? He remembers that helpless feeling when he had learned she had been kidnapped, or worse yet, the bleak blackness when he thought they had lost each other forever in the stable fire after Steven and Sam's wedding. Waking up in the hospital room afterwards, Fallon at his bedside whispering how much she loved him and just needed him to pull through, he knew he would always love this woman and promised himself he'd never let her go again.

Then he messed it all up. He let is ambition and his pride and his greed get the best of him, and he'd lost everything. He'd lost her.

And now she wasn't answering her phone and the bile was rising in his throat at the thought of never being able to tell her he loved her again.

He rushed to his car, driving to Carrington Manor almost on auto-pilot, and another possibility crossed his mind. _Ada._

If Ada had gotten to Fallon, he'd never forgive himself. If she somehow found a way to get close enough to make good on her threats and hurt her when he could have just gotten that conniving bitch out of their lives by walking away from her and her damn money months ago, it was all on him.

He wishes he could take it all back. He wishes he could do it all over. He wishes she would just pick up her phone!

At the Manor now, and he's taking the front steps two at a time. He still has his keys and he rushes through the front door, not bothering to address the perplexed Anders he passes as he scales the grand staircase.

He bursts through her bedroom door, and to his relief, sees her standing in front of the fireplace, a look of deep concentration on her face.

Before he can stop and think, he has her in his arms, needing to feel her close.

"Baby, baby, thank God you're ok. What is it, what happened?" Still holding on to her, he takes a step back to look her over, but can't see anything wrong. If anything, she's looking confused. His mind is whirring and he feels the start of something nagging at the back of his mind. "Fallon-?"

There was a moment, brief but palpable. His proximity was having an effect on her, and he lets her go. There is a guilty look in her eyes, and he feels that nagging feeling in the back of his mind start making its way to the forefront.

She takes a deep breath. "I'm fine. Funny story, really. Are you doing anything for dinner?"

He was going to kill her.


	2. Why can't we go back?

**Part II: "Why can't we go back?"**

**2X13: Even Worms Can Procreate**

* * *

He's not as surprised as he should be when she shows up at his door, dry cleaning in hand.

He's only mildly surprised, later, when she looks up at him, grabbing the back of his neck and drawing him closer as her lips meet his.

By the time she has him pinned against the armoire, he's not surprised at all.

Sex had never been the issue between them. Body to body, slick skin on skin, limbs getting tangled in each other as they drove each other wild with their tongues, eyes, touches, and words…sex had never been the problem.

It was everything else that they couldn't quite get right.

Between her trust issues and his own insecurities, he wonders if they had ever really had a chance.

Still, as he feels her nails digging into his skin and her nipples hardening against his body when his mouth finds the exposed expanse of her neck, all he can think of is getting her out of these damn clothes and into his bed. Her moans, swollen lips, and the almost wanton look in her eyes tell him she's desperate for the same- logic, reason, and propriety be damned.

They fall onto the bed and into a familiar pattern, and Michael lets himself be lost in the moment, lost in in her. She's already so wet as she slides down his length onto him, and his body responds to her rhythm. He'll deal with the consequences later, but right now he just wants to lose himself in the familiar freefall.

After all, when it comes down to it, Michael knows every inch of Fallon, inside and out. He knows what drives her, what inspires her, what makes her laugh, knows when she's about to cry, knows when she's about to yell.

And, well.

Knows when she's about to come.

He _knows her._

Afterwards, he's lying beside her, and she's not saying a word. He chides himself, because he realizes there's a flipside of knowing someone so well, too well.

In the shower now, letting the cold water wash over him, and he already knows she'll be long gone by the time he gets out.

He does know her, after all.


	3. Breaking the rules

**Part III: "Maybe it's time to start breaking the rules then."**

**2x17: How Two-Faced Can You Get?**

* * *

Despite his best efforts, he's having a sense of déjà vu.

He's trying not to. He so desperately wants to focus on this moment with Kirby. Funny, kind, sweet, _sexy _Kirby, who looks beautiful in her sparkly dress and whose eyes and mouth are telling him she'd be good _to_ him, _for_ him, _with_ him.

He wants to be in this moment with her, but everything about the night, the music, hell, even the goddamn dress she's wearing, is bringing him back years ago to another party, another clandestine meeting, another beautiful girl with doe eyes and a whisper of the forbidden.

* * *

**_The Carrington New Years Eve Party, 2013._**

He finds her out by the pool, the lights from inside the house casting a shimmer over her sequined dress and making her reddish blond hair alight with fire. She's sitting at the edge of the water with her feet dipped in, her dress hiked up to her knees, and her impossibly high heels off and laying on the tile beside her. She's nursing an open bottle of Dom, and a far off look in her eyes.

Quite simply, she's breathtaking.

He clears his throat, letting her know she's not alone. "You're missing the party."

She looks over at him, and there's a half smile playing at her lips that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Oh, honey, don't you know- I _am_ the party." There's a mirth in her voice as she takes a swig of the bottle and he marvels again at how this woman who literally has everything could still be the saddest girl in the world.

He wonders what her father had said to her this time.

Fallon, home over Christmas break during her last year at UPenn, had had high hopes for the holidays. Instead she had come home to find her brother off at rehab, and her father entangled in a legal battle with Jeff Colby, with little time for anything- or anyone- else. Christmas ended up being a disaster, made only worse a few days later by the fact that Alexis had completely forgotten to even pick up the phone to wish her a happy 21st birthday.

The last thing Fallon wanted to do was ring in the new year with her father and his old friends, but a party was never just a party in the Carrington's world, and so she found herself all dressed up in a big house with too many of her father's business contacts, and not enough alcohol to drown all her sorrows.

He sits down next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She closes her eyes and leans her head against his shoulder. "No." She takes a deep breath. "I'm done talking." She looks up at him then, and he can feel her closeness, feel her breath on his neck and feel her heart pounding against his chest.

Despite everything in his body telling him otherwise, this—they- cannot happen. "Fallon, I-"

She puts a finger to his lips to stop his words. They've had this conversation before. She knows what he's going to say. She doesn't want to hear it again. "Don't you ever just want to break the rules, Michael?"

He pauses, and its hard for him to think straight when she's so close and her hands are on him.

"Fallon. We both know…..we can't act on this- whatever this is. I've known you since you were a child. I work for your father. It'd be wrong."

She takes a breath. For a moment, she looks resigned, but the next moment there's a steely determination in her eyes. When she opens her mouth, there's a raw, honesty in her voice that still haunts him. "But that's just it, Michael. I'm not a child anymore. And this doesn't feel wrong. Not to me. And I know it doesn't feel wrong to you either."

Her eyes are big and vulnerable and he knows he's never wanted anyone more.

He's not sure who makes the first move, he just knows that in the next instant his lips are crashing over hers, and her hands are wreaking havoc on his body as her fingers scrape through his short hair. He's vaguely aware of a slowed down remake of a song from the 80's playing in the distance from inside the house, but all of his other senses are in tune with feeling her tongue dancing with his as she pushes her body along the length of his.

They had been playing at this game for months now, tip-toeing around the inevitable, scared to cross that line, knowing they would not be able to stop themselves once they had that first taste of each other.

If he's honest with himself, he hasn't been able to get the taste of her out of his mind since.

* * *

Back in the present, and he's trying not to remember, not to feel, not to want.

He can make it work with Kirby, he thinks. He can make himself make it work. She's beautiful, and she's kind, and she's sweet, and she's funny. Most importantly, she's _not_ Fallon.

But he wishes she were.


	4. I have some assets too

**Part IV: "I have some assets too, if you'll remember."**

**2X21: Thicker Than Money**

* * *

Fallon was a smart girl. Really smart. She was as smart as she was rich. And well, Fallon Carrington was a billionaire.

He's a little bit in awe, watching her in action as she presents her case in front of the league's Commissioner. She's in her element, strong and demanding, commanding her seat at the big boys' table. It doesn't matter to her that Jeff called this meeting last minute and that she's had little if no time to prepare. She was _born_ for this.

Watching her now, he knows she has no idea of the affect she is having on each of the men at the table. And it has nothing to do with her revealing pant suit, her come-hither eyes, or her full, pouty lips. It has everything to do with the confidence she exudes and the prowess in which she reminds everyone why at the age of 25, she had been more than capable of running a 100 year old empire.

It's just pure, unadulterated, unfiltered, Fallon. Hell hath no fury like a woman who knows how to get what she wants, damn anyone who tries to get in her way.

Hell, she's just talking, and he doesn't remember the last time he was this turned on.

Later, in front of the elevator, and there's an awkward silence. He wants to say what's on his mind, but he knows he's lost that right.

He wonders if she knows that in his heart of hearts, she'll always be his girl. Some things will never change.

He wonders what her reaction would be if he just came out and said how proud he was of her for finally achieving her dream of being the leader she's always wanted to be. That he knows she'll go on to do great things. And that yet it pains him that even now, she was still trying to prove herself to Blake.

She might have listened to him once. But not anymore.

Despite everything, he finds himself opening his mouth to tell her anyways.


	5. Sorry for everything

**Part V: "I really am sorry. For everything."**

**2x22: Deception, Jealousy and Lies**

* * *

She's in his apartment, again, but this time he's keeping his distance. He knows all too well what happens between them when they are alone. He doesn't trust himself around her anymore.

His left cheek still feels the sting and imprint of her earlier slap, and a part of him thinks that maybe he can't trust her anymore, either.

At first he thinks she's going to go in on him again about Kirby, but he's thrown for a loop when she mentions Cristal and her father. Her demeaner changes, and he can feel himself start to put his guard back down and let her in. She quickly grows concerned as they start to put the pieces together, and for the briefest instant its them against the world again.

The moment ends though. Always one with quick one liners, and Fallon's words quickly remind him that they aren't _they, _anymore. Its just him, and its just her.

She's so flippant sometimes, so quick to dismiss him, them.

Sometimes he wonders if their relationship had meant the same to her as it had to him. If she'd ever really had the same hopes and dreams for their life together that he did. He was going to marry this woman. Give her his name. Anticipated one day watching her belly swell with his child, pictured sitting in a comfortable silence on a back porch after a long day and a long life together.

And now she's acting like somebody he just used to know.

She's at the door now, but she turns back. "And Michael? I really am sorry. For everything."

There's a pause. He looks into her eyes and lets her words sink in. She's meeting his gaze with words left unsaid and he sees their life together, past, present, and the future they let slip away, flash before her eyes, too. And in that moment, he knows, _knows _that God help him, he will always be wholly, undeniably, and unequivocally in love with this woman.

He opens his mouth to respond, but its too late. It's always too late.

She closes the door, and then she's gone.


	6. Sorry: Fallon's POV

**"I really am sorry. For everything."**

* * *

The door now firmly shut behind her, Fallon leans against the wall outside of Culhane's apartment and closes her eyes.

She takes a deep, shaky breath and tells herself its her adrenaline to blame for the fact that her heart is beating a million miles a minute, that her stomach is flip flopping because of her anger over Blake and Cristal's deception. It has nothing to do with the way Michael looked at her, absolutely nothing to do with the fear of him being taken away by the feds, and she felt less than nothing while standing so close to him, alone in his apartment.

After all, she was engaged to Liam now. Her heart belonged to Liam.

_Didn't it?_


End file.
